Conference Date: Saturday September 21st, 2024

Conference Location: University of Arizona, Tucson

Proposal Submission Deadline: Saturday June 15th, 2024

Conference Admission Cost: $65 per person (includes light breakfast and lunch)

The Arizona English Teachers Association, your state affiliate of the National Council of Teachers of English, invites you to submit a proposal for the 2024 AETA Conference: “We Know We Are Not Alone”: Building Sustenance Through Solidarity

As the nation continues to grapple with restrictive curriculum and book bans, teachers of reading and writing understand all too well the devastating impacts that such legislation can have on our students. Yet, every day we hear stories of the creative and courageous work being enacted in English Language Arts classrooms across the state.

This work is vital, yet it is wearing. Teachers often work in silos and understand the truth in Gloria Ladson-Billing’s words, that “institutions have no capacity to love you back”. Yet our community is powerful and resilient. As last year’s conference keynote speaker, Dr. Jamila Lyiscott, reminded us “the time for inscribing new futures is now. The authority to author new, more equitable social realities belongs to each of us." We have the capacity to create classroom spaces that celebrate our students’ linguistic, social, and cultural gifts and to build coalitions of support within our profession and our classrooms. 

This year, we invite English teachers from around the state to join us in community to reflect on our experiences, share our stories, plan for the road ahead, and celebrate all that we have accomplished this year. As you write your proposal, consider the ways that you have built your classroom community, collaborations you have enacted with other teachers and partners, and the ways that you have taught creatively in complex and polarizing times through acts of solidarity.  

·      How do you create opportunities for student-led pedagogy through student-student and student-teacher collaboration?

·      What does community look like in your classroom? What do you as a teacher do to create and sustain community in linguistically and culturally diverse spaces?

·      What projects have you enacted within your school or classroom to strengthen the connection between your school and its local community? 

·      How have you collaborated with other educators to enact support for students in the face of restrictive curriculum?

·      How do you create reading and writing opportunities for your students that align with their multiple literacy communities?

·      How do you engage your students in multimodal and digital projects and collaborations? 

·      How do you build and sustain teacher networks of support?

We know that each of you does something transformative for your students, schools, and communities. Please share what you are doing with AETA!

*We especially encourage educators from multiple-marginalized backgrounds (based on race, class, gender, sexuality, and/or disability), first-time presenters, early career, and rural educators to submit a proposal.

 **Please note that teachers in Title I schools may need to seek approval from ADE this spring to receive funding to attend AETA in the fall.